Make them feel part of something.
Sometimes students question the future job opportunities in this economy and if thee efforts in the academic will be validated. I always encourage them to strive since the people that prepare themselves, for when the better times come, are the ones with a solid advantage over the street smarts. Many of them lost the job do to business closings and the only thing backing them is the experience they had since there is no academics. The question is who will the companies prefer, someone with an academic degree and a problem solution spectrum or someone with experience and no academics.
I think employers want an employee with diversity. As such, it is important for any job applicant or employment candidate to be able to show that they can adjust and adapt in any situtation. One way to show the ability to adjust and adapt is through evidence of a strong educational record. Any education is a good education because it adds to an employees marketability. Consequently, education does not guarantee employment, but it absolutely guarantees competitiveness. I beleive employers are looking for balance in education and academics.
Lance,
Good point and something the students need to be reminded of frequently. They need to see the value of both their education and their ability to function in different settings.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
So true. The more marketable they make themselves the better chance they have to getting a job. Street smarts can only take you so far, where an education rounds that skill into something more useful.
Hello Ricardo: It sounds like the students are only concentrating on the extrinsic values of getting a degree. Possibly, you could have a mini-lesson about the intrinsic rewards of getting an education. On the board, you could write the words: "Curiosity", "Challenges", "Control", "Growth", "Teaming/Leading", "Recognition". Have your class break-up into 6 groups and assign each group one of the headings to discuss how the words relate to going to college. As a full-class, discuss the findings to remind the students how important knowledge is. You can even support this by telling a short story about why you went back to college to get your degree.
Ricardo,
Good points about how to respond to questions raised by students about their future. Having been downsized once can cause them to be real concerned in relation to their current studies. Your words of encouragement that support their educational growth are so important because you are showing them that they are developing their personal as well as professional collateral as a result of being in school. They need to know they are going to be employable upon graduation if they have the knowledge and skills.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
